Embossing and printing machine



Feb. 27, 1934.

P. A. GARDNER, JR

EMBOSSING AND PRINTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 27, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l wi e/2707 3 /2766 56 8/ 7/10? J? %A9 I 1 7%? flip/Mega Feb. 27, 1934. A, GARDNER, JR 1,948,911

EMBOSSING AND PRINTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 27, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 27, 1934. P. A. GARDNER, JR

EMBOSSING AND PRINTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 27, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Feb. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT QFEICE This invention relates to embossing and printing machines.

An object of the invention is to provide a machine for use in embossing or printing names or other notations or designs or characters on leather and other materials, comprising a type holder and carrier equipped with means for holding in connection therewith different series of types or characters, mechanism for operating the same to produce impressions upon the leather or other materials, and means for inverting said holder and carrier automatically and as an incident to the withdrawal of the same after each operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved holder and carrier for the type comprising means for supporting therein different rows or lines of type, and means for supporting said holder and carrier in operative connection with the operating mechanism of the machine.

Various other objects and advantages of this machine will be apparent from the following de scription, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a perspective view of a machine constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view approximately on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a vertical front to rear sectional view approximately on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the type holder and carrier on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Fig. '7 is a sectional view on the line '7-7 of Fig. 1.

The machine comprises a base 1 having a forward extension 2, and an upright standard 3 formed with a forward extension 4 at its upper end. The standard 3 and the extension 4 thereof are hollow.

.A platen or work holder is mounted on the base extension 2 and consists of a lower plate 5 and an upper plate 6 separated from the lower plate by an intervening space '7. Spacers 8 are mounted between and connected with the plates 5 and 6 and hold said plates in a unitary assembly.

A pair of longitudinally movable racks 9 and 10 are mounted in the space '7 between the plates 5 and 6. These racks are in permanent mesh with diametrically opposite sides of a pinion 11 mounted in the space '7 between said racks and rotative with or about an axle member 12. The outer ends of the racks 9 and 10 are connected with brackets 13 and 14, respectively. These brackets 13 and 14 are mounted upon the upper side of the plate 6. The connections uniting the racks 9 and 10 with the brackets 13 and 14 extend through slots 15 and 16 in the plate 6. Outward movement of the racks 9 and 10 may be limited bystops 1'7.

A plate 181s pivoted in each of the brackets 14 by pivot pins 19. A lever 20 is mounted on the outer end of each of the pivot pins 19 and is connected with the adjacent end of the corresponding plate 18 by a pin 21, thus providing convenient means for raising the inner edges of the plates 18. The levers 20 are beyond the forward edge of the platen, so that said levers may conveniently be engaged for the purpose indicated.

Leaf springs 22 are connected to the brackets 13 and 14 by pivots 23 permitting these springs to be turned from position upon the brackets, as shown at the left 'of Fig. 1, to positions in which. the springs extend inwardly beyond the brackets and beyond the plates 18, as shown at the right of Fig. 1 and in-Fig. 2 of the drawings. Thus, either of the plates 18 may be raised to permit any portion of the work to be extended thereunder and the springs 22 may be turned to position to press the work upon the platen. These brackets 14 may be moved inwardly toward each other to place the plates 18 against the side edges of the work, such as a'billfold or other article, and thereby center the work, whether a billfold or other article, upon the platen and in position to receive the printing or embossing impression. The slots 16 permit the connections uniting the racks 9 and 10 with the brackets 13 and 14 to move inwardly and outwardly and the pinion 11 engaging said racks causes the racks to move in unison and at exactly the same speed and to exactly the same distance. The plate 6 is formed with a visible gage line 24 and with a front to rear gage line 25, which may be observed and which constitute means to' expedite and facilitate centering the work upon the platen.

A gage, comprising a plate 26 having a V- shaped notch 2'7 in its front side, may be providedto assist in centering work of certain types on the platen. For instance, a corner of a billfold may be placed in the notch 27 with the edges of the billfold engaging the walls of said notch and the billfold may thereby be centered without using the centering devices 18 and, when the embossing or printing mechanism is operated, di-

agonal lines may be printed.

Further, the platen may be provided with a number of angular gage lines 28 for use in centering the work by placing the corners of the work within the angles formed by the gage lines 28.

A sliding gage, comprising a bar 29 having along its forward edge an upstanding flange 30, may also be employed to assist in centering and locating the work on the platen. This gage is adapted to slide along the upper surface of the plate 6 and is connected with a rod 31 extending through the standard 3 and capable of sliding forwardly and rearwardly in order to permit the gage to be located. A fastener 32 is supported by the standard 3 and is adjustable to clamp upon the rod 31 and thereby secure said rod in any of its adjusted positions. This will prevent accidental displacement or movement of the gage.

The gage 26 is removable and replaceable and is connected with pins 33 designed and adapted to extend into holes in the plate 6 and thus hold the gage 26 from displacement. However, the gage 26 may be removed when any end edge or side edge of the material or work is to be placed against the gage 30. The gages 26 and 30 are ordinarily not used at the same time.

A rack 34 is mounted for vertical sliding movements in a guide 35 at the front end of the forward extension 4 of the standard. This rack is held in said guide by a plate 36 attached to the guide by removable and replaceable screws 3'7. A rack 38 is attached to and extends downwardly from the forward extension 4 of the standard.

A gear wheel 39 is enclosed in the forward extension 4 of the standard and is supported upon an axle 40. A hub 41 of the gear wheel extends through a hole in the side wall of the forward extension 4 and is provided with a number of holes 42. A hand lever 43 is operatively connected with the gear wheel 39 in any appropriate way as by a projection 44 engaging in a hole in the axle and by a pin 45 extending through holes in the lever 43 and into oneof the holes 42. A spring 46 passes around the hub 41, has one end attached to the forward extension 4 by a fastener 47 and has its opposite end provided with a hook 48 engaging in front of the handle 43. Thus, this spring constitutes means for operating the handle 43 to its starting position after each manual operation of said handle and thereby rotates the gear 39 and causes said gear to operate the rack 34.

A frame 49 and its associated parts constitute a type carrier and holder. This frame has projections 50 receiving between them a forward extension 51 in connection with the lower end of the rack 34. Ahinge pin 52 extends through the projections 50 and the extension 51 and thereby hinges the frame 49 to the rack 34. An arcuate rack or gear segment 53 is attached to one of the projections 50 and is in constant mesh with the rack 38. By thisconstruction and arrangement, the frame 49 is swung to a downwardly extended position automatically and as an incident to downward movement of the rack 34 and is swung to an upwardly extended or inverted position automatically and as an incident to upward movement of said rack 34.

A pair of angular clamps 54, extend through a longitudinal slide 55 in the frame 49 and are screwed on right and left hand threads, respectively, formed on a shaft 56 extending longitudinally through the frame 49. Thus, rotation of the shaft 56 will move the clamps 54 toward each other and rotation of said shaft to the opposite direction will move said clamps away from each other and increase the space between said clamps. The shaft 56 is held from longi-, tudinal movement in one direction by a head 57 and from longitudinal movement in the opposite direction by an abutment 58 adjacent to which a handle or knob 59 is attached to the projecting end of the shaft 56. The handle or knob 59 constitutes means for manually rotating the shaft 56 to move the clamps 54 to their different adjustments.

A similar shaft 60 extends longitudinally through the frame 49 parallel with the shaft 56 and is formed with right and left hand threads on which are screwed a pair of clamping members 61. This shaft 60 is held from longitudinal movement in one direction by a head 62 and from longitudinal movement in the opposite direction by an abutment 63 adjacent to which a handle or knob 64 is attached to the projecting end of said shaft 6. This knob or handle 64 constitutes means for manually rotating the shaft 60 independently of the shaft 56 in order to move the clamping devices 61 to their different adiustments.

It is now clear that a number of types to form a line may be mounted between the clamps 54 and an additional line of types may be mounted between the clamps 61 and that these two lines of types may be used simultaneously to print simultaneously two lines upon the same material. One longitudinal edge of the frame 49 is formed with a wall 65 functioning as an abutment or rest for the line of types mounted between the clamps .54 and also functioning as an enclosure for an appropriate electric heating device or coil to which electrical energy may be supplied through the wires 66. The wires 66 may be connected with line wires in any appropriate and known manner and the supply of electrical energy through said wires 66 may be controlled by a switch 67 operative to different adjustments to regulate the amount of electrical energy passing to the wires 66 in order to vary'the degree of heat.

A bracket 68 is attached to the opposite side of the frame 49 from the wall 65 and supports an adjustable screw 69 adapted to cooperate with any alining device for holding the lines of type in perfect alinement.

In using this machine, the different lines of types are mounted between the clamps 54 and 61, respectively, and said clamps are adjusted to hold the types in position for cooperation with the clamp 69 and the wall 65. The lines of type may be easily applied because when idle the frame 49 is supported in its inverted position,

. thus greatly facilitating and expediting the placement and removal of the type thereon.

After the type have been applied, the work or.

material to receive the printing, or to be ornamented'or embossed, is located between the gage members 18 and any of thegage devices 26, 28 and 30. Any projecting flange or side edge portion of the work may be extended under either of the gage plates 18 in order to center the principal body of the work upon the platen. The work may be clamped and held in position and prevented from becoming accidentally displaced by turning the springs 22 to clamp the work upon the platen.

After the type have been mounted, they may be heated by adjustment of the device 6'7 to supply electrical energy to the heating coil or member in the wall 65. The'work having been placed and properly centered and gaged upon the platen and the type being heated and the lettering material or sheet having been placed upon the work, the handle 43 is then swung forwardly and downwardly, thereby moving the rack 34 downwardly in opposition to the spring 46. This swings the frame 49 forwardly and downwardly to extend the type heads downwardly toward the work. The gearing 38 and 53 is arranged in such a manner that at the proper time further swinging movement of the frame 49 is discontinued, permitting the frame to move in a straight line downwardly and impress the ends of the type against the work in order to complete the operation. Then the handle 43 is released and the spring 46 moves said handle to its starting position, thereby raising the rack 34 and turning the frame 49 to its inverted position.

lhe wall is shown along the rear of the type carrier 49 in the inverted position of said type carrier. Thus, the wall 65 constitutes a support or rest against which the type may easily be placed by the operator of the machine as the operator looks from the front onto or across the type carrier and toward the wall 65 at the rear of said type carrier. When individual types are placed in a row, these individual types will be alined by the wall 65. When logotypes are used, the bodies on which the individual letters or characters forming the logotypes are represented will be alined against the wall 65 and between the clamps 54. When the plunger rack 34 is moved downwardly, the type carrier 49 is turned about the axis of the pivots 52 so as to extend the faces of the types downwardly, thus bringing the wall 65 around to the front of the type carrier.

It is obvious that the extent of turning movement of the type carrier from its downwardly extended position may be varied in many ways. For instance, the extent of such turning movement may be varied by changing the arrangement of the gear elements 38 and 53 in order to employ an arcuate gear element 53 of longer or shorter radius, according to the extent of turning movement of the type carrier 49 that may be desired.

In this machine there is a direct cooperation by and between the several gages that may be employed. For instance, the gages 28 may be used in direct cooperation with the gage plates 18. Or, the gage 26 may be used directly in cooperation with the gage plates 18. And, at the option of the operator, the gage 30 may be used to cooperate directly with the gage plates 18 in centering upon the support 6 the material or work to be imprinted or ornamented. Addi tionally, the gage lines 24 and 25 constitute visible centering guides or gages to aid the operator in placing and centering the work for operation of the type in printing mechanism.

The construction and arrangement of this invention may be widely varied within the scope of equivalent limits without departure from the nature and principle thereof. I do not restrict myself unessentially, but what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine of the character described, a longitudinally movable plunger, a forward exten- 1 sion rigid with the lower end of said support, a

support for supporting the material to be imprinted or embossed. a type carrier pivoted to the forward end of said extension, mechanism for supporting type in said type carrier to imprint or emboss the material on said support, and

mechanism for moving said type carrier to position to imprint the material on said support automatically and as an incident to movement of said type carrier toward said material and for inverting said type carrier in front of said plunger automatically and as an incident to movement of said type carrier from the material on said support.

2. A machine of the character described comprising a longitudinally movable plunger, a forward extension rigid with the lower end of said support, a support for the work to be imprinted or embossed, mechanism for moving said plunger toward and from said support, a type carrier pivoted to the forward end of said extension, mechanism for holding type in said type carrier, and mechanism for operating said type carrier to extend the type toward said support automatically and as an incident to movement of said type carrier toward said support and for extending said type away from said support to exposed position automatically and as an incident to movement of said type carrier away from said support.

3. A machine of the character described comprising a frame member, a work support in connection with said frame member, a rack mounted for sliding movements in said frame member toward and from said work support, gear mechanism for moving said rack toward and from said support, a lever for operating said gear mechanism, a type carrier, a forward extension at the lower end of said rack pivotally supporting said type carrier, mechanism for holding type in connection with said type carrier, and gear mechanism for positioning said type carrier to imprint upon the work automatically and as an incident to movement of said type carrier toward said support and for inverting said type carrier automatically and as an incident to movement of said type carrier from the work.

4. A machine of the character described comprising a supporting platen for supporting the work to be imprinted, a plunger movable toward and from said platen, a forward extension at the lower end of said plunger, a type carrier hinged to the forward end of said extension, devices for securing a line of type on said type carrier for imprinting upon the work on said platen, and mechanism for supporting said type carrier in inverted position in front of said plunger when said plunger is away from said platen and for turning said type carrier to present the type to the work automatically and as an incident to movement of said plunger toward said platen.

' 5. A machine of the character described comprising a platen for supporting the work to be imprinted, a plunger movable longitudinally toward and from said platen, a forward extension at the lower end of said plunger, a type carrier pivoted on the forward end of said extension, a segmental rack rigid with said type carrier, a rigid rack with which said segmental rack meshes and whereby said type carrier is turned from upwardly extended position in front of said plunger to downwardly extended position and vice versa during movements of said plunger, and mechanism for holding a line of type in said type carrier.

6. A machine of the character described comprising a platen for supporting the work to be imprinted, a plunger movable longitudinally toward and from said platen, a type carrier, a forward extension at the lower end of said rack, means pivotally supporting said type carrier at the forward end of said extension, a segmental rack rigid with said type carrier, a rigid rack with which said segmental rack meshes and whereby said type carrier is turned from one position to another during movement of said plunger, mechanism for holding a line of type in said type carrier, and means for heating said type carrier to diiferent degrees of heat.

'7. A machine of the character described comprising a support for the work to be imprinted or embossed, a plunger movable toward and away from said support, a lever for moving said plunger toward said support, a spring for moving said plunger from said support, a forward extension at the lower end of said plunger, a type carrier pivotally carried by said extension forwardly from said plunger, means for securing one or more lines of type on said type carrier as desired, and gearing for turning said type carrier from position in which the type extends toward said support to position in which the type extends from said support in front of said plunger automatically and as an incident to movement of said plunger from said support.

8. In a machine of the character described, a support for the work or material to be imprinted, a plunger movable from unoperated position away from said support to operated position adjacent to said support, a forward extension at the lower end of said plunger, a type carrier pivotally supported by said extension in inverted position in front of said plunger when said plunger is in its unoperated position, and mechanism for turning said type carrier from said inverted position automatically and as an incident to movement of said type carrier to operated position adjacent to said support.

9. A machine of the character described comprising a longitudinally movable plunger, a forward extension at the lower end of said plunger, a type carrier pivotally supported by said extension and adapted to turn from, operated to unoperated position in front of said plunger, and mechanism for turning said type carrier from operated to unoperated position automatically and as an incident to movement of said plunger in one direction.

10. A machine of the character described comprising a longitudinally movable plunger, a forward extension at the lower end of said plunger, a type carrier pivotally supported by said extension for turning movements from and to operated and unoperated'positions, mechanism for clamping type in connection with said type carrier, and mechanism for turning said type carrier from unoperated in front of said plunger to operated position automatically and as an incident to movement of said plunger in one direction and from operated position to unperated position automatically and as an incident to movement of said plunger in the opposite direc tion.

11. A machine of the character described comprising a longitudinally movable plunger, a forward extension at the lower end of said plunger, a type carrier pivotally supported by said extension for turning movements from and to operated and unoperated positions, mechanism for clamping type in connection with said type carrier, mechanism for turning said type carrier from unoperated to operated position automatically and as an incident to movement of said plunger in one direction and from operated position to unoperated position in which said type carrier is inverted across the front of said plunger automatically and as an incident to movement of said plunger in the opposite direction, and supporting and gaging means for supporting and gaging the work or material to be imprinted by the type supported by said type carrier.

12. An embossing and printing machine comprising a support for the material to be embossed or imprinted, a plunger movable toward and from said support, a forward extension rigid with the lower end of said plunger, a type carrier pivoted to the forward end of said extension for swinging movements from inverted position in which said type carrier extends upwardly in front of said plunger to position in which the type carrier extends downwardly below the forward end of said extension, mechanism for operating said plunger, and mechanism for swinging said type carrier as aforesaid.

13. An embossing and printing machine comprising a longitudinal movable plunger, a forward extension at the lower end of said plunger, a type carrier pivoted to the forward end of said extension, gearing for moving said plunger vertically, and gearing for turning said type carrier upwardly to position in which said type carrier extends upwardly in front of said plunger when said plunger is moved upwardly.

14. An embossing and printing machine comprising a longitudinal movable plunger, a forward extension at the lower end of said plunger, a type carrier pivoted to the forward end of said extension, gearing for moving said plunger vertically, and gearing for turning said type carrier upwardly to position in which said type carrier extends upwardly in front of said plunger when said plunger is moved upwardly and for moving said type carrier to downwardly extended position below the forward end of said extension when said plunger is moved downwardly.

PRINCE A. GARDNER, JR. 

